John Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

They are never too far away. Does the Government want proper local government? Absolutely. The current system in its entirety in terms of the supports for councillors is insufficient and is the reason we need to examine the role of a councillor and remunerate accordingly.

What has to be taken from the work done by the Department on surveying the amount of time councillors put into the job is that a councillor is not a full-time position. Some people who are on groups or bodies in other organisations are able to make it a full-time position. We all know that, in terms of time and effort, being a councillor is more than a full-time position, although I was interested in Senator Boyhan's story about somebody who rang a councillor on Christmas Day about their cable TV.